The human skin consists of two major layers, the bottom thicker layer dermis, and the top thinner layer--the epidermis. Dermis is the layer which provides the strength, elasticity and the thickness to the skin.
The main cell type of the dermis is fibroblasts, which is responsible for synthesis and secretion of all the dermal matrix components such as collagen, elastin and glycosaminoglycans. Collagen provides the strength, elastin the elasticity and glycosaminoglycans the moistness and plumpness of the skin. With aging, the thickness of the dermal layer is reduced and this is believed to be partially responsible for the formation of wrinkles in aging skin. The top layer of human skin or the epidermis which provides the resilience and the barrier properties of the skin, is composed of many different cell types including keratinocytes, melanocytes and langerhans cells. Keratinocytes are the major cell type of the epidermis (75-80% of the total number of cells in the human epidermis). Richards et al. reported that estrogen stimulates secretion of a protein, prolactin, by human dermal fibroblast cells and that prolactin then stimulates proliferation of keratinocytes. Richards et al., Human Dermal Fibroblasts Express Prolactin In Vitro., J. Invest. Dermatol., 106: 1250, 1996.
Estrogens and synthetic compounds which act like estrogens are known to increase the thickness of the dermal layer and reduce wrinkle formation in the aging skin. The changes in the skin such as skin dryness, loss of skin elasticity and plumpness occurring after menopause is attributed to the lack of estrogen production. Estrogen therapy prevents or slows down many of these changes associated with aging skin (Creidi et al., Effect of a conjugated estrogen cream on aging facial skin, Maturitas, 19, p. 211, 1994). Some of the effects of estrogen on skin include: increase in skin thickness and disappearance of fine wrinkles, increase of the mitotic rate of the epidermis, reduction in the size and activity of the sebaceous gland , slow down of the rate of hair growth, stimulation of collagen turnover and increase in the production oL hyaluronic acid and glycosaminoglycan synthesis of the fibroblasts (Pugliese, Menopausal skin, Skin Inc., March/April 1994: p 69-77).
In recent years, phytoestrogens (i.e., natural compounds which have estrogen-like activity and which are found in plants) have been increasingly used for therapeutic purposes. Some of the uses described are as hypocholesterolemic and antiatherogenic agents, treatment of cardiovascular diseases especially in postmenopausal women, treatment for osteoporosis in the elderly and as an anticancer agent especially against breast cancer, endometrial and cervical cancer in women (Knight et al., Phytoestrogens--a short review, Maturitas, 22: 167-75, 1995).
The consumer demand for "natural" based products has been growing in recent years. The consumers perceive chemical synthesis as environmentally unsafe. A chemically synthesized ingredient may contain harsh chemicals. Natural products are perceived as pure and mild and superior to chemically synthesized products. However, delivering a cosmetic benefit from plant sources is not trivial. In order to derive a real benefit from a "natural" source not only a plant or a part of the plant containing a specific active has to be identified, but a minimum concentration and/or a specific extract of that plant has to be identified which truly delivers a cosmetic benefit.
Over 500 compounds present in plants have been described to have estrogenic activity. These compounds, collectively called phytoestrogens, are found in a diverse number of plants including cereals, legumes (including chick peas) and grasses (Price et al., Naturally occurring estrogens in foods--a review., Food additives and contaminants., 2, p. 73-106, 1985). Their concentrations vary in the different parts of the plants, geographical locations, year of growth etc. Two major classes of plant compounds which possess phytoestrogenic activitv are flavonoids and coumestans. Some of the commonly described phytoestrogenic compounds are genistein, biochanin A, formononetin, daidzein and their glycoside derivatives (Knight et al., Phytoestrogens-a short review., Maturitas, J. Climactreic and post-menopause, 22, p.167-75, 1995).
Chick pea or Spanish pea (Cicer arietinum), a common dietary lentil, contains flavonoids including daidzein, formononetin, biochanin A, pratensein, homoferreirin, medicarpin, maackiain, methyl coumestrol, medicagol, formononetin glucoside and biochanin A glucoside (Ingham et al., In: Progress in the chemistry of Organic natural products, vol 43: Ed-W. Herz et al., Springer-Verlag, Wien, New York, 1983). The flavonoids from chick pea have been reported to have lipid lowering effects in the blood and liver of rats. Several nutritional studies report on the protein from chick pea for use as nutritional supplements and ways to improve the protein quality of chick pea. Vasiliou, U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,285 discloses the use of chick peas as a dietary supplement or for internal or topical treatment of hemorrhoids. In India, a cosmetic mask or skin treatment made from chick pea powder mixed with water is a common beauty treatment.
The art discussed above does not describe organic chick pea extracts for skin care or cosmetic use. The art does not teach topical application of organic chick pea extracts, as a phytoestrogen, and with a specified estrogenic activity.